Digital Media News

The Real Reasons Your Ad Campaign Failed

Written by Aaron Gibeaut | Feb 3, 2016 5:39:53 PM

No matter what article you read, or which study you refer to, it's impossible to ignore the fact that people are spending more time online today than ever before. For some consumers, this means staying permanently glued to their smartphone or tablet, whereas for others it means online gaming, checking the news on their laptop, or buying groceries from their desktop. It's no surprise, the commerce world has never been more convenient, and the online sphere makes finding information about products or services simple and hassle-free. Hence, online advertising has become a crucial part of any modern strategy for business growth.

However, as effective as online advertising can be at helping you to reach a wider number of people throughout the World, it's important to remember that without the right strategies in place, even the most well-thought-out marketing plan can fail. If your ad campaign isn't bringing in any of those crucial conversions, the following reasons may give you an insight into why.

Your Ad Campaign Has No Originality

For businesses that are just getting started in the World of internet-based marketing, it can be difficult to come up with inspiration for a truly effective campaign. Fortunately, most online advertising experts will inform you that a fantastic initial strategy involves researching your competitors, and studying what they do to draw in the crowds. However, keep in mind that you shouldn't allow this idea to go too far by simply copying and pasting the ideas of the most successful companies in your industry into your own website. Not only will this immediately get you flagged by Google, but what works well for one business doesn't always work perfectly for another.

While some people still regard the online market to be a young and growing sphere, the truth is that most channels are fairly saturated when it comes to marketing, meaning that you're going to need to think outside of the box if you want to grab audience attention. After all, no-one's going to be excited by a marketing scheme that's already been done a thousand times before. Take the time to think about what's important to your company ideals, and what's important to your target market. If you can combine these two things into a marketing campaign, then you're sure to come up with something unique and original that makes you into a truly memorable brand.

Your Advertisements Have No Shareability

Just like viral videos and popular images on Instagram, a successful advertisement is one that convinces your audience it's worth sharing with others. A significant amount of the online advertising success that companies see today comes through social media. If your messages, landing pages, ad banners, and concepts can't be shared through videos, pictures, blog posts, and tweets, then you're going to need to rethink your entire marketing strategy from scratch. Advertising yourself doesn't mean talking about how great you are through large blocks of difficult-to-consume text, today, grabbing the attention of your audience can be as simple as making a post with 140 characters.

At the same time, make sure that your advertisements are easy to engage with on any medium. Mobile friendly websites are crucial for reaching out to a wide audience of potential customers today, as an increasing number of consumers are shopping for products and services from the comfort of their smartphone or tablet. In fact, recently, smartphone usage overtook desktop usage as a way to access the Internet. With that in mind, any of the creative that you serve in the form of advertisement should be able to function and display just as perfectly on a small screen, as it would on large desktop or laptop.

If the way you market yourself isn't consumable, then you'll miss out on a significant amount of your potential customers.

Your Ad Campaign's Priorities Are All Wrong

Finally, companies that are new to the World of online advertising often get confused when it comes to determining what matters for their business, and what doesn't. Just as people used to assume that it was the number of people who followed you on Facebook that indicated success, rather than the amount that people engaged with you, many organizations still focus on traffic numbers, instead of actual conversions. The truth is that although traffic is an important part of your online presence, the ultimate goal should be conversions - making a sale, encouraging someone to subscribe, or having an impact on your audience.

If your advertising campaign is entirely focused on the amount of people you can tempt to visit your website, you're unlikely to see measurable results. After all, convincing people to visit your website is one thing, but getting them to click on a product description, find out more about your services, or visit the shopping cart is a totally different concept.